iCatch A Thief
by sillyputty3
Summary: A thief is on the loose at Ridgeway! The iCarly gang takes it upon themselves to stop the crook before it is too late, and they steal an invaluable trophy.
1. Fifty Dollars

Fifty dollars

Carly and Freddie are hanging out at their lockers between math and science classes.

"Hey Freddie, what did you think about that math test?"

"It was alright except I think I messed up the question on the chain rule. What about you?"

But Carly did not get a chance to answer because she heard a scream from the other side of the hallway.

"Nooo!!!! Where did it go?!"

It was Wendy. She was shuffling through her locker with a very panicked expression on her face.

"What's wrong Wendy?" Gibby walked up innocently to help and console his friend.

"I had fifty bucks in my locker so I could go buy these really cute shoes after school, but it's gone!"

Gibby hugged Wendy until she got to grips with herself. Meanwhile, a guy wearing a black shirt and a gold pendant who was walking towards Wendy's locker stopped in his tracks, and turned around. He looked up to read a poster about the winter dance coming up.

"Here, let me help," Gibby said.

"Thanks," Wendy gasped as she began to rummage through her purse.

"Don't see anything in here."

"Then where did it go?"

"You sure it was in there?"

"Yeah, I placed it in there this morning and I've been eyeing it ever since anticipating the end of school."

"I'm sorry, I guess someone stole it."

"But who would steal out of my locker? That's real low." Wendy frowned and crossed her arms, and Gibby gave her a consoling hug.

"What's up?" Sam had walked up behind Carly and Freddie.

"Hey," said Carly, "someone just stole fifty bucks out of Wendy's locker."

"That bites," said Sam, "any idea who did it?"

"Actually," Freddie lifted an eyebrow, "shouldn't we be asking _you_? You are our link to the criminal underworld."

"Ha ha, and no, I may be a part of the criminal underworld but I don't steal cash from other students."

"But you took twenty dollars out of my purse a few weeks ago, just before the time those criminals taped us up in my apartment" Carly added.

"Oh, yeah," Sam looked down, "well I don't know who pulled this stunt."

"Think the teachers will figure it out?" Freddie asked.

"Well they do have security cameras in the halls," she said as all three looked up. But they noticed that the camera in the hallway had a piece of paper taped over the front.

"I guess they're not an idiot," said Sam.

"Poor Wendy," Carly sighed, "come on, let's get to class." And the three walked together to science, Carly and Sam smiling and laughing; while Freddie had a focused looked on his face.

A/N: so, a few notes: 1) pay attention to details in this story, they may be important later on, 2) the chain rule is something you learn in calculus (aren't Carly and Freddie smart?! :-P ), 3) I am trying to not make this story real outlandish by keeping the main characters, well, in their character, and 4) please review because it will make me happy!


	2. Commence Inquiries

Commence (or instigate) Inquiries

The next morning Carly was at her locker getting books for class when Freddie walked up.

"You hear anything about who took Wendy's money?" Freddie asked.

"Nothing, I still feel really bad for her, those were some really nice shoes."

"Why does that matter, they're just shoes."

Carly gave Freddie a death glare and grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close to her.

"Never say 'they're just shoes' to a girl ever again.'"

"Oh, sorry," Freddie paused awkwardly for a few moments while Carly let go of him, "Well, I decided to do some research on the crime scene."

"Really? Why?" Carly was back to normal.

"I kinda felt bad for Wendy, plus I thought it would be kinda fun."

"You want to know what it's like to be a detective?" the brunette smiled.

"It seems fun in the movies. But in the movies everything seems to go together really easily. I couldn't find anything."

"What'd you check?"

"I hacked into the security camera system to see what I could find on the camera that got covered up. Apparently that it got covered around three in the morning. Then I asked Wendy if I could see her locker. She didn't seem too happy about that request, but she obliged and I found nothing. It didn't look like it had been tampered with at all."

"Weird," said Carly, maybe the teachers know something we don't."

"Considering how they looked yesterday I would doubt that. If anything Sam should be in charge of finding out what happened, I'm sure she has a hundred times more experience in trouble than all the teachers combined."

"Speaking of Sam," Carly said, and Sam walked up to her two best friends eating at fat free fat cake.

"Morning, how are you?" Carly asked.

"Same as every other morning." The blonde responded with her mouth full; crumbs flying out.

"Just as abrasive and aggressive as yesterday, huh?" Freddie asked.

"Listen Benson, I don't need to hear it from someone who plays detective in his free time."

"Shut it Puckett, I did a lot of research."

"And what did you find?"

Freddie paused, "Nothing, but what did you find?"

"Well I know that Franklin is beefing up security. He's hiring a guard to lock the school at night and keep watch."

"Well hasn't the school always been locked at night? Why would this change anything?"

"Said like someone who has never broken a school rule in their life. The entrances to the gym and the fire exit next to the art room have broken locks. Or rather, had broken locks. It used to be easy as cake to get by those doors but I checked this morning and they now look brand new."

"Well you explained the cover over the camera, but how would someone know Wendy's combination?" Carly asked.

"It would be easy if a person just hung around Wendy's locker and watch her enter a combination," Sam said, "and of course it's easy to hide in a crowded hallway."

Carly and Freddie frowned, "so what you're telling us is that it was really easy to break into someone's locker and no one has any idea who did it."

"Not quite," Sam smiled and punched Freddie, "I know 'a friend'," she stared at Freddie, "who said that there is this new kid at our school, Xavier, who transferred because he almost got expelled at his old school for committing robberies. At his old school he apparently got into trouble for breaking into lockers and the principal's office. It was even rumored that he broke into a bank."

"You're kidding," said Carly.

"Nope, but the school was having problems gathering evidence to expel him, so he transferred before they could put a case together."

"Who is this kid!?" Freddie exclaimed.

"He's right behind you," Sam pointed nonchalantly.

Freddie and Carly turned around in a flash.

"Way to not be obvious," Sam said.

"Which one is he?" Freddie moaned.

"The one talking to Gibby. Black Mohawk, black shirt with a skull on the front of it, nice sneakers, and a gold pendant around his neck."

Carly and Freddie stared at him with their mouths hanging open before Sam snapped her fingers.

"Hey! Don't stare he'll know we're on to him!"

"Fine, but how do we prove that he's still a thief?" Freddie asked.

"Freddie, we can't be 100% sure it was him. He may have turned over a new leaf." Carly added.

Sam and Freddie stared at her in disbelief. "Yeah, and I may start treating Freddie with respect tomorrow," Sam mentioned sarcastically. "I know it bites, but I don't think we can get any proof on the theft from Wendy's locker. We'll just have to keep our eyes open for when they strike again - and they will strike again."

A/N: bum bum bum…..we haaaaave a suspect! My points: 1)Like how Sam is so resourceful? She would make such an awesome spy, imo, 2) I snuck into my school before to get schoolwork by a fire escape by the art pods, so that's where I got that idea, 3) Xavier is such a cool name, 4) so please review and tell me what **your** favorite part was!


	3. Unknown?

Unknown

The next two weeks went by peacefully. Carly, Sam, and Freddie kept their eyes open, especially on Xavier, for suspicious activity, but there was nothing. The teachers seemed a little more relaxed too, and optimism showed in their body language as hope expanded in the thought that the break-in was a one-off and that the bandit had had enough and was keen to return to a life liberated of misconduct.

"Hola Carly, que pasa?" Freddie had just come from Spanish class.

"Bonjeur Freddie," Carly had just come from French, "and not much."

Freddie sighed.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just…it would've been really cool to figure out who the crook was by now."

"But you should be happy because it would take someone else getting something stolen to find the thief."

"I guess."

The two stood around for a minute talking about a new software Freddie had found for an iCarly bit. But when Freddie was in the middle of his explanation of some coding he had written Sam came running up.

"You guys will not guess what happened!" she yelled.

"You behaved in Ms. Briggs class?" Freddie asked.

"Ha ha, yeah right. Someone broke into the counselor's office during lunch!"

"What?!" Carly and Freddie said simultaneously.

"Their office?" Freddie exclaimed.

"During school?" Carly exclaimed.

"Isn't it awesome?" Sam exclaimed.

"I'll admit, that's really gutsy," said Freddie, "what'd they take?"

Sam's smiled faltered a little, "nothing."

"You mean a thief broke into someplace and didn't steal anything?" Freddie asked bewildered.

"Well her office is getting searched right now, but Ms. Elson didn't notice anything missing after floundering around for an hour."

"So how do they know the thief broke in?" Carly asked.

"Two cameras covered and Ms. Elson's lock was broken."

"Wow, I wonder how they did that without anybody noticing." Carly said.

"It _was_ lunch time," Sam added.

"But this just makes Xavier look more likely to be guilty because only an experienced person would risk breaking into an office like that," said Freddie.

"Did anyone see where he was today?" Carly asked.

"I only saw him this morning in science," Freddie said.

"Hmm…very suspicious," Sam replied stroking her chin.

"Yes," said Carly, "but that's still no proof."

"Yeah," Freddie said sarcastically, "a known thief goes missing the same time something gets stolen. I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

"Shut up Freddie. Remember, a person is innocent until proven guilty. We can't just go blaming Xavier because we haven't thought of anybody else. Besides, _why_ would he break into the counselor's office and not take a thing?"

Freddie and Sam stood there for a minute in silence.

Freddie snapped his fingers, "he must've just got in but all the noise attracted a teacher. Thus, he just ran away to keep from getting caught."

"Good thinking Fredweird," Sam said mockingly.

"Maybe," Carly shook her head, "but I still wonder what he was trying to take."

Freddie and Sam looked at each other and shrugged.

"I guess we'll have to wait for another attempt to find out what they want," said Freddie.

A/N: Cool, so Sam & Freddie seem to be hooked on Xavier but Carly wants more proof. Who do you think is right? And what was the person trying to steal? Tell me what you think! I thought this had the feel of a filler chapter to me, if you got that vibe please complain to me but don't worry, it gets better.


	4. Trophies

Trophies

For the next week Carly, Freddie and Sam made sure to keep an eye on Xavier for suspicious behavior. Carly was still uncomfortable with assuming Xavier was the thief, but she had a hard time arguing for a guy with the track record Xavier had. Freddie was able to keep an eye on him during PE and History, Carly kept track of him during English, Sam kept an eye out during math and science (and whenever she decided to skip class, which was quite frequently), and all three could see what he was doing during lunch. But they did not notice anything suspicious about him, despite their efforts.

"Hi Freddie," Carly yawned. It was Monday morning at Ridgeway. All the students were sluggish and not looking forward to another week of school.

"You enjoy your Sunday?" she asked pleasantly.

"It was great," Freddie smiled, "I hung out with Gibby, trying to get him a girlfriend for the upcoming winter dance. We sat around at the mall and talked to various girls. But by the end five left when we walked up to talk to them, twenty left when Gibby took his shirt off, and the other girl left because Gibby spilled his drink on her. After the 26th rejection we decided to go see a movie."

"Sounds fun," Carly smiled, "Gibby is such a sweet, fun guy, I'm sure he'll find…"

"ATTENTION!" Principal Franklin's voice projected out of the intercoms, "all students go to your first class immediately and all teachers please set the school into lockdown.

"Lockdown?" Freddie asked.

"That's right!" Ms. Briggs was standing behind Freddie like a hawk staring down her prey, "now go to class! And stay there; we are going to catch a thief!" And she ran off down the hallway yelling at every student she could along the way.

"Cool, they may actually get the crook," Carly smiled, "come on, let's get to class."

"I'll meet you there," Freddie said, taking a step towards the direction Ms. Briggs had gone.

"Wait, Freddie." Freddie obeyed (of course).

"You aren't seriously going to disobey a teacher are you?"

"Um, well…." The hallways were almost clear; Freddie needed to make a decision fast.

"Yeah, I am," he said mustering some confidence, "but I don't want to get you in trouble, I'll see you in class."

"Okay," the brunette replied, "good luck," and Miss Shay ran off to class.

Freddie ran down the hallways down where Ms. Briggs had run off. It took hardly any time since the halls were clear. He could faintly hear some voices and used those as his guide. Freddie's heart beat accelerated as the voices grew louder. His anticipation for finally capturing the crook heightened after all the disappointment of the past weeks. It was all about to be released. But just as Freddie was about to round a corner to head towards the gym a hand grabbed him and pulled him into a cracked open closet.

"Hey, who do you think you-?!" Freddie began to yell, but a hand covered his mouth and whispered, "Shut it! Do you want them to hear you?! They'll think _you_ took it!"

"What?!" Freddie whispered, "Sam! Why are you here?"

"I'm never on time, Freddork! And besides, I wanted to check out the scene of the crime!"

"You mean the thief didn't get caught?"

"Nope. But there was another robbery. This time it was the trophy cabinet outside the gymnasium. A couple of trophies are gone."

"But how'd they get away with it?"

"That's the thing, the coach saw someone in a mask wearing black running into the school with a bag. He came in early to make plans for the _big game_, and was able to call Franklin and get the school locked down so they couldn't escape."

"Well then it should be easy to find them!"

"We'll see. Right now Franklin is making sure no one, _no one_ got out. Then it sounds like they're going to search all of the students, their lockers, and the rest of the school."

"I guess the thief is gonna get caught red handed. I'm impressed with Ted."

"Yeah, well we have another problem. If they catch us here, next to the scene of the crime, it might be us who get caught red handed, so we've gotta sneak out of here."

"Fine. But you lead, you were always better at me at this kind of thing." Sam smiled.

She quietly led Freddie out of the closet, checking to be sure the teachers were still talking in the gymnasium. Franklin was still furious and giving the teachers his orders. Sam meanwhile made her way quickly and silently down the hall. She took a right to head back towards the classrooms. Twice she had to hide herself and Freddie behind a corner due to a patrolling professor. But there were stretches of hallway where Sam and Freddie could sprint down without anyone noticing. They ran by the cafeteria and some posters advertising the winter dance coming up and football playoff games. Then once when there was a teacher and no corner to hide behind Sam threw Freddie into a trash can and hid herself behind a snack machine.

"Couldn't we both have hidden behind the snack machine?"

"Maybe, but I couldn't be certain. So to be safe I threw you in the trash can."

"Great," Freddie muttered, taking a banana peel off his head.

"Quick!" Sam said, and in a jiffy she and Freddie had finally made their way to their classroom; Carly looked worried sick.

"Freddie! Sam?! Where have you two been?! You could've gotten into some really deep trouble!"

"Ah, don't worry Carls; I made sure Freddie was safe." Freddie rolled his eyes.

She and Freddie spent the next few minutes explaining to Carly what had just happened. But after that they sat around for twenty minutes waiting to hear of the conclusion of the teacher's search.

"I wonder what's taking them so long." Carly said.

"Maybe it's taking them awhile to find Xavier." Freddie added.

"Freddie! How do we know it's Xavier? And why would he want to steal a couple of trophies?"

"Beats me, but the coach said they were wearing black and Xavier always wears black."

"Well lots of kids wear black and they could've changed clothes. Let's just wait, after all this the teachers surely will catch the person soon."

Meanwhile the classroom was becoming slightly chaotic without a teacher supervising. Rip –off Rodney had started taking bets on who people thought the thief was, Gibby was talking to a cute girl while shirtless, Wendy was flirting with some guy, and Sam was drawing a picture of Ms. Briggs being sat upon by an elephant on the chalk board.

Five minutes before class was supposed to end a voice came over the intercom. It was Principal Franklin, obviously disappointed.

"I would like to apologize to the students of this school. I feel I have personally let them down in taking away an hour of their education this morning and because one of the student body, who is filled with ill intentions, is still at large."

A/N: Another robbery! What will the trio do? Who's the thief? What clues were important in this chapter? Please tell me what your favorite part was in a review (because I like reviews). And a special thanks to I'mTheEndOfAllThatYouSee and Falloutboy99 for reviewing. You guys rock


	5. Morning Announcements

Morning Announcements

The next day the school was buzzing over the thefts and who they thought the thief was. A few people were concerned about their own possessions, others were fascinated at how good the thief was, and many liked how a student was able to evade Ms. Briggs. But they all shared the fact that they were talking about the thief and hardly paid attention to anything else. The students were all in homeroom when Carly, who had been conversing with Wendy, was interrupted by the morning announcements.

Chris, a very colorful student president, got to make the morning announcements.

"Good mooooooorning Ridgeway! I hope you all slept well and kept your valuables locked up. Announcements today: if you would like to sign up to be on the dance committee for the upcoming winter dance, today is the last day to do so. Please contact Flo Ida before the day is done. Also, a reminder that the football state championship is coming up this weekend, so everyone should come out to show their support. We will be playing Skyline High School who defeated Wilson High last week 28-12. Last, Principal Franklin says that he will be ordering random locker checks so if students randomly get pulled out of class, please don't be nervous. Even better, if you're the one who's been causing all the mischief, please come down to the principal's office right now. There are a few people who would like to talk to you."

"So are you going to the football game?" Wendy asked.

"I don't know," Carly responded, "I'm not really a big football person."

"Oh, come on, you _have_ to go."

"I have to?"

"Yeah, it's the state championship."

"Still, it's a bunch of guys running around and hitting each other."

"Have you ever been to a game?" she said eagerly.

"No," she whispered and suddenly took interest in rain she could see out the window.

"So when are you going to get a better time to try coming to a game?"

"Fine, I guess. I bet Freddie and Sam will like it. They tend to like violent sports more – especially Sam."

"Good call," Wendy smiled.

A/N: yeah, I know this is a short chapter, but expect a new chapter almost each day until the end (which I think will be sometime this weekend, just in time for the new episode!!).


	6. State Championship

State Championship

It was a dark and stormy night. The Ridgeway High School football team was playing for the State Championship tonight. It had started raining right after lunch time and hadn't stopped since. Freddie and Carly got to the game at five, an hour before the game was supposed to start to get decent seats. Freddie was wearing a blue raincoat with a clear poncho over it while Carly had a pink raincoat with white polka dotted rain boots.

"So where is Sam?" Freddie asked.

"I called her earlier; she said to save her a seat because she would be busy doing something dealing with beef jerky."

Freddie smiled, not surprised. He and Carly spent the next half hour complaining about the weather, iCarly, and what scheme Sam was working on with beef jerky.

"Speaking of Sam," Carly said, "Isn't that her by the gate on the field?"

Freddie looked down and there was Sam. She had made it through the gate next to the football field and was waiting for the football team to parade into the locker room in front of her.

"Oh no," Carly moaned, "She forgot a raincoat. And she's wearing a white tank top." Carly buried her face into her hands, showing her displeasure of her friend's lack of attention to her appearance.

Freddie looked down too, noticing that his friend's tank top was no longer opaque, "looks like you're not the only one who noticed." The football team looked to be teasing Sam and her wardrobe, and Sam was yelling some unpleasantries in response.

After the entire team finally passed Sam ran up the stands to her best friends, obviously irritated. On her way up she passed Xavier, who stared at her as she ran up the stands.

"What a bunch of pervs," she muttered as she sat down.

"What were you thinking?!" Carly yelled, "It's been raining all afternoon why would you not wear a coat? And why are you only wearing a tank top. That's not exactly the trendiest idea."

"I don't know," Freddie smirked, "the football team thought she was pretty hot."

Sam hit Freddie on the shoulder, hard.

"Ow!" he yelled.

"That's what you get."

"Here, I brought you something." Freddie stuck his hand into his poncho pocket, pulled out a yellow poncho, and threw it into Sam's lap.

Sam's mouth was gaping open. She quickly threw the poncho onto herself.

"Thanks Freddie," she stammered.

"No problem. I suspected you might forget a raincoat and, well, those football players were being total jerks."

Sam quickly gave Freddie a hug, then punched him on the arm again and began talking to Carly about some iCarly bit.

The game finally began and was extremely close. The teams were tied 0-0 at halftime because no one could stand up for more than a few seconds at a time on the slick field, nonetheless score. But in the fourth quarter star quarterback Andrew Langdon ran in for a touchdown to win the game – and the state championship. The crowd went wild and stormed the field. At the center was Andrew, who was apparently kissing his girlfriend.

"Is that Wendy?" Carly asked.

"I didn't know they were going out," Sam said, "I guess she's cool and all, but going out with a star football player?"

"Be nice Sam, she is really cool. Remember she almost won Miss Ridgeway last spring with her ice sculpting skills."

"That was a really awesome ice sculpture."

The crowd continued to celebrate as a man wearing a suit and raincoat walked onto the field with a microphone.

"I would like to congratulate Ridgeway for playing a great game tonight."

The crowd cheered.

"And I would also like to congratulate Skyline."

The crowd clapped politely.

"But now, it is my pleasure to present Ridgeway with the state championship trophy!"

Two men who worked for security wheeled out a table that held the trophy on it. The trophy was about three feet tall, had three blue columns, and sported a gold football player on the top who looked like he was avoiding a tackle.

The gentlemen in the suit handed the trophy to the coach, who also took the microphone.

"Hey Ridgeway!!!" The crowd went crazy. "I just want to thank all the fans who came out in this crazy weather to root our team on to a great win!" The crowd cheered again. "And I would like to congratulate our team on playing their hearts out, especially Andrew Langdon." The crowd cheered again and Wendy kissed Andrew. The coach lifted the trophy and then handed it to Andrew. He raised it over his head for the crowd to admire. After that the coach took the trophy from Andrew and handed it to the other members of the team. Andrew had a look of greed flash across his face before one of his teammates gave him a hug and said congratulations.

"Come on," Carly said, "let's go to the Groovy Smoothie to celebrate."

"One second," Sam said, and she took her phone out and took a picture.

"A photo to remember the occasion?" Freddie asked.

"You could say that," the blonde responded, "now let's go."

A/N: Poor Sam!! Anyways, who thinks ice sculpting would be a cool skill for a beauty pageant? Sorry I said I was hoping to put a chapter up nearly every day and I already blew that, but enjoy!


	7. Wendy's Boyfriend

Wendy's Boyfriend

The next day the school was buzzing over the football game. Some were talking about how great of a player Andrew Langdon was or how good looking he was, and some complained that their phones won't work due to the rain. But they all shared the fact that they were talking about the game and hardly paid attention to anything else. The students were all in homeroom when Carly, who had been conversing with Wendy, was interrupted by the morning announcements.

"Good morning Ridgeway," Chris, the SGA principal said, "welcome to another morning at Ridgeway. The weather outside is 50 degrees and rainy. Of course, that doesn't matter because we're stuck here in school. In other news, tickets for the winter dance go on sale today. They can be bought in the lunch room: $20 for a couple, $15 for a single ticket. So, if you are lonely and were planning on going by yourself, find a friend, you two can save some money! Also, the trophy from the state championship game will be presented to the football team at the dance! For lunch, we are having pizza and tator tots. Yum! Last, there will be an emergency meeting for the math team after school."

"Oh, did I tell you I get to work on the stand for the championship trophy?!" Wendy said.

"Oh, that's cool," Carly smiled, "what are you going to make it look like?"

"Well, I'm going to make it really big because the trophy is so large. I'll put it on wheels so it's easy to move around, and I am going to paint it in the school colors, for obvious reasons. It was so cool! Franklin asked me in person to do this. He wants to have a presentation at the winter dance so we can all thank the football players for their hard work. The only problem is that I only have two weeks to finish it."

"Cool, I bet your boyfriend will think that's neat."

"Yeah, he will," she nodded, "Wait! Did I tell you I got a new boyfriend?"

"No, but I saw you with a guy after the football game. I just kinda guessed that you two were together."

"Yeah, it's Andrew Langdon, the quarterback for the football team. How hot is that?!" Wendy almost screamed the last bit, but her cheeks turned as red as a rose as she looked around to see several classmates staring at her, amused.

"That's really cool," Carly giggled, "You two make a good couple."

"Thanks," Wendy said.

Then, the bell rang.

"I'll see ya later Carly."

"See ya Wendy."

A/N: okay, so I know this chapter might not seem as interesting as some of the others, but it's important for later on. Also, thanks go lalalalala for reviewing!! You rock


	8. Clue

Clue

It was a rainy Saturday night and Carly, Sam, and Freddie were hanging out in the Shay's apartment playing board games and relaxing.

"I brought popcorn!" Spencer yelled, and he walked into the den with two bowls of popcorn.

"Thanks!" Freddie and Carly said. Sam already had a mouthful of popcorn in her mouth.

The four were playing Clue, as Sam had just beaten everyone in the game of Life, while Carly had won Chinese checkers.

"Colonel Mustard – Revolver – Conservatory," said Freddie.

"Here," Sam said, showing Freddie a card.

"So did you guys ever figure out who the thief was?" Spencer asked.

"Nope," Freddie replied, "they keep making entrances but we were always caught on a bathroom break."

Carly and Sam stared at him.

"You are such a dork," Sam said, "why can't you speak like a normal person?"

"Whatever." He smiled, "No, we haven't found them, only gotten close on the three occasions they struck." Freddie said in a frustrated tone.

"Well I'm sure the teachers will catch them eventually," Spencer said, "I'm sure they've got a plan."

"I don't know about that," replied the blonde, "they haven't been doing too well so far. You should've seen Franklin after the trophy cabinet was broken into, he was ticked and seemed shocked that a robbery had occurred _again_."

"If only we knew where they would strike next, then we could come up with a plan," Carly said. "Miss Scarlett – Wrench – Ball Room." Then something snapped in Carly's head.

"That's it," Carly whispered slowly.

"You mean that's your guess?" Spencer said, "Man! You got really good at this game, I only know the weapon!"

"No," Carly whispered. She was staring down floor, piecing together several pieces of the puzzle in her mind.

"If the thief is confident, which was obvious by the break in to the office, and if they like trophies, which we saw when he broke into the trophy cabinet by the gym, then won't they want the state championship trophy?"

"Why would Xavier want another trophy?" Freddie asked.

"I don't know, but didn't they steal football trophies from the old trophy case?"

"Yep," said Freddie, "it was a regional's trophy from a few years ago and a special award to Andrew Langdon from last year."

"That's, it would make sense that whoever it is would want to take the state trophy."

"But Franklin got the school a new case – one that is _really_ hard to break into," Sam debated.

"They won't try to steal it out of the case," Carly shook her head; "they've already done that. They'll do it in the **Ball Room**. They'll go for the trophy at the dance!" Carly got up and started pacing the room. "And Franklin figured it out! That's why he's going to present the trophy at the winter dance! Why else would he care about presenting a trophy to the school? He went to the trouble of asking Wendy to build a stand for him and arranging a presentation. I bet he's going to set a trap!" Carly's voice made a crescendo as she rushed to her conclusion.

"Wow, aren't you getting a bit, ahead of yourself?" Sam got up put her arm on Carly's shoulder.

"No Sam!" Freddie jumped up. "That's gotta be it! It makes sense!"

"Shut up detective Benson, you just wanna be a.."

"Can you two just chill for a second?" Carly folded her arms, deep in thought, "Spencer, what do you think?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Your theory works but it does seem a bit…farfetched. But either way, there's only one way to find out."

"What's that?" Carly asked.

"You all need to go to that winter dance and keep an eye out for the thief showing up."

"Awww!" Sam yelled, "I don't want to go to some stupid dance!"

"Come on Sam, we have to!" Freddie grabbed Sam's shoulders, "this could be our chance!"

Sam threw Freddie's arm off her shoulder, "Fine."

A/N: Yay! We're getting really close to the climax. And notice I'm throwing in a little Seddie. Please tell me if you thought Carly's logic on the Clue clue was believable. I thought I did a descent job, but I had the idea in my head, so it was obviously easy for me to understand!


	9. State Championship Trophy

State Championship Trophy

Saturday night Freddie dressed into his tux and knocked on Carly's door. The brunette answered, "Hey Freddie!"

"Hey Carly! You ready to catch the…wow!" he took a step back to take in how great Carly looked. She was wearing a glossy, green dress that flowed all the way down to her heels.

"Thanks," she blushed, "you look very handsome yourself."

"Thanks. I just hope we catch the thief tonight."

"I'm sure we will. But now we need Sam to get here soon so we can leave."

Serendipitously, a blonde knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Carly yelled.

A blonde-headed girl walked in wearing a blue dress that went down to her knees with a white purse.

"Hey Sam!" Carly exclaimed and ran to hug her friend. The two screamed and hugged.

"Sam, oh my-, you look great!"

"Thanks, you look gorgeous too." She said all girly.

"Great, can we all go now?" Freddie said.

They all got their things and left.

Gibby had asked Carly to go to the dance a few weeks ago, and she agreed. "He's sweet and funny," she said, "we'll have a great time." Freddie was considering asking Elise, a cute girl who really liked cars, but after the trio decided to initiate their plan of attack Carly suggested that Freddie take Sam.

"No!!!" Freddie begged, "She'll kill me before the night is out!"

"But she needs a date! Besides, you're her friend."

"Try telling her that."

"No, you should."

"You mean you haven't even talked to her about this?" Freddie's jaw dropped to the floor.

"No, it's the guy's job to ask a girl out." Carly poked Freddie in the chest.

"But you're the one setting us up…"

"Freddie! It's the man's job! Now go be a man!" and she pointed out the door, glaring at Freddie as she did so.

Thirty minutes and one large bruise later Sam had reluctantly agreed to Carly's idea; after Freddie asked her, of course.

The three met with Gibby (who wore a white tux) at the Cheesecake Warehouse (where they had the best cheesecake in the world!) and then went to the dance. It was held in Ridgeway's gymnasium. The place was full of blue lights and blue balloons to keep with the winter theme. There were fake ice sculptures in the shapes of dolphins, people, and penguins. There was also a snow-biz machine. ("This is awesome!" Gibby yelled. Carly just shook her head in amusement and took a bite of her sweet treat). Next to the snow-biz machine were tables full of food: hors 'oeuvres, chicken wings, chocolate cake, and so much more. Next to these tables was a temporary stage, presumably for the football team to be honored on.

Thirty minutes into the dance "starting" Xavier walked in with his date.

"Look!" Freddie pointed at Xavier and Exige, a tall girl with a glittery dress and high high heels. "We should tail him!"

"Freddie, how many times do I have to tell you?"

"But he's our best bet right now."

"I agree," his date said. Freddie turned in surprise at hearing those words.

"Sam, you agree with me?" he asked.

"It is a good idea," she nodded.

"Well then let's go. Will you be okay Carly?"

"Yeah, Gibby and I will find something to do."

Then the couple ran off to find Xavier and keep a close eye on him.

Carly and Gibby certainly did find something else to do. Gibby was one of the stars of the dance with all his cool moves. He and Carly were the center of a lot of attention. They were two of the best dancers in the room and spent the first two hours of the dance swinging, congaing, waltzing, salsaing, and Foxtroting. That was until the music stopped and Principal Franklin walked onto the stage.

"Oh man, I forgot," Carly said hitting her head.

"Forgot what?" Gibby asked.

"Oh, nothing," she said, "Let's move closer to the stage."

"May I have your attention?" Principal Franklin announced into a microphone. "I am here to introduce a very important group of people: the winners of the state football championship!!" Several well-dressed guys walked onto the stage, and one of them was wheeling out the trophy stand Wendy had built, which looked really heavy. It held the huge trophy on top of it that now had "Ridgeway High School" etched into it.

"Congratulations everyone!" Principal Franklin announced, but just then, the lights went out. Several girls screamed, including Carly, but Franklin yelled, "everyone just be calm!" After a few seconds, the lights came on.

"That was weird," said Gibby.

"You're telling me," Carly said, "Wait!" she pointed at the stage, "The trophy's gone!"

Gibby muttered an expletive under his breath. Sure enough, the trophy was no longer sitting peacefully on top of the stand. Principal Franklin was beside himself, looking around for any sign of the thing. "Security, lock the exits!"

"Come on!" Carly yelled and grabbed Gibby's hand, "we need to find Freddie and Sam!" The two ran towards the front of the stage to find her friends. She looked around and saw some blonde hair.

"Sam! Where's Freddie? The trophy's gone!"

"He followed Xavier. The guy left ten minutes before the trophy got presented. He told me to stay here and keep an eye on things."

"But how could Xavier get out with the trophy?! The lights were only out for a few seconds and the stage was too crowded, there was no way they could run on, snatch the thing, and run away!!"

"Sorry," the blonde responded.

"Come on," Carly grabbed her hand, "let's go take a closer look."

The three ran up onto the stage next to the stand to have a closer look.

"Why are we here?" Gibby asked.

"I just have a feeling," Carly responded, and she began to pace. "That thing couldn't be far away."

Gibby sat down on the stand to rest.

"Could it have been a football player, I don't know half the team so I couldn't tell if anyone on the stage wasn't supposed to be there. But they looked like they were supposed to be there…"

Gibby rocked the stand back and forth for fun, but he lost control and the stand started rolling away (someone had forgotten to lock it). "Help!!" was all Gibby could yell before rolling off stage and crashing, with two large thuds.

"Gibby!" the brunette and blonde yelled. They both rushed off stage (with everyone staring) to help Gibby.

"You feel okay?" the blonde asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine.

"Wait," Carly said puzzled.

"What? I told you I'm fine." Gibby said perplexed.

"That stand made two thuds when it hit the ground.

"Why would it do that?" he asked.

"Could it have something in it?" Carly looked around the stand and found a door on the side. She opened it and to her surprise she found the trophy, and a girl.

Carly gasped, "Wendy?! _**It was you?!**_"

Wendy looked up and raised her hand limply. She crawled out from the broken stand, shaking, and covered in bruises.

"Hey," she said meekly.

"Wow," Freddie came running and saw the scene, "you're kidding me."

"Why would you do this?" Carly asked.

"Because my boyfriend wanted that trophy really badly," she replied, "and I really wanted to go out with him. So I told him I'd get him a few things he wanted if he would go out with me."

"And he asked you to steal trophies?" Carly yelled.

"Yup," she said.

Principal Franklin ran up; he had just finished searching the kitchen (the only room next to the stage). All of the students were now surrounding the criminal in amazement and it took a minute for him, the coach, and Miss Briggs to push their way to the center.

"Oh my," he said when he made it to the center. "You're kidding me. Wendy?"

"Yep," she replied timidly.

"Miss Briggs, please take Wendy to my office, I will speak with her in a few minutes." Principal Franklin ordered.

"Gladly," Miss Briggs smiled widely, like a Cheshire Cat.

"Coach," Franklin took the trophy out of the stand, "I believe this is yours?"

"Thank you principal," he said smiling. But then he had a perplexed look on his face for a moment before walking off.

"As for you three," Franklin looked down at the trio, "thanks," and he shook the guy's hands and hugged the girls.

"No problem," Freddie said, and Principal Franklin walked off, "continue dancing and enjoying yourselves!" he yelled, and the students continued dancing into the night.

A/N: Good job Gibby!! Isn't he awesome? Please review because I like reviews and tell me what your favorite part was. And come back because there is one (epic) more chapter!!! And enjoy the new show tonight


	10. The Truth Revealed

The Truth Revealed

At midnight the dance was over and everyone was told to leave.

Carly hugged her two friends.

"You guys did great," she said.

"You did an awesome job too," Freddie said.

"I would still like to know how she did it," Carly added.

"I overheard her being interrogated by Franklin," Freddie replied, "she obviously faked her own locker getting robbed to gain sympathy. But later she broke into the office to find locker combinations."

"Locker combinations?" Carly asked.  
"Yeah, so when Wendy stole the trophy from the cabinet she could just stash the trophy in there. The teachers never checked any spare lockers, only the ones that were checked out by students. The trophy was sitting in that locker for days and the teachers never bothered to check it out during locker searches."

"She's a criminal mastermind," the blonde kidded.

"She sure is," Freddie replied. "Once the football team won the championship Wendy was the one who suggested to Franklin to set a trap for the thief. That's how she arranged it so she would build the stand. Then all she had to do was make a trap door and hide in it before the dance."

"And you know what that means?" Carly asked.

"What?" asked Freddie.

"Xavier is innocent." She waved a finger.

Freddie shifted uneasily, "I guess I blew that one."

"It's okay; come on, let's go celebrate!" the brunette smiled.

"Yeah!" Freddie yelled.

"Yeah, but let me go change out of my clothes first," the blonde said.

"But you look really good," the brunette responded.

"Thanks, but I've had enough of these clothes for tonight."

"Alright, we'll see you at my place a little later?"

"Plan on it," she said.

Carly and Freddie followed the tail end of the exodus of students into the parking lot.

The blonde stood around for a minute next to the stage, alone; during this time she was looking around. After she seemed convinced that she was not being watched, the blonde hair bobbed its way out of a back door. She wandered around the back of the building to a ladder. She climbed the ladder, somewhat awkwardly due to the dress, and made her way onto the roof. Once her ascension was complete she sweetly strode over to the front part of the school where she could see the students leaving below her and the silhouette of a blonde girl sitting down with a black trash bag. She walked a little closer to see a puddle of rainbow-colored water on the ground next to an empty water bottle.

"Hey, you got it?" she asked.

Sam turned around and had a huge smile on her face, "Of course Melanie!" She gave her sister a hug and pulled out the football state championship trophy from a bag of confetti.

"Nice, I was worried Wendy had the real one for a moment."

Sam smiled, "Ha! No, I made sure to take the trophy before the dance started."

"How'd you do it?" Melanie asked.

"Well," she smiled and nodded her head, "I used the picture I took at the football game of the trophy and made a fake using plastic, paper Mache, wrapping paper, etc. Then, I brought that here in a trash bag. When I got here I dressed myself as one of the cooks using a uniform I stole. Plus, I added on a ton of makeup to disguise my face. Then I found where the trophy was placed in the back. When no one was looking I switch the two, and carried my bag of "trash" out the back door. I've been waiting here ever since."

"Nice, but why didn't they notice it was a fake?" Melanie asked.

"Ah, I spent two weeks on it so it looks pretty realistic. Plus I added a few weights so it feels the right weight too. But the first time someone places the sweaty hand or spills some water on the thing, then the glue will come off and they'll know it's a fake."

"Wow Sam, you're really clever." Melanie gave Sam a high five, "Imagine if you used your powers for good."

"Shut up Melanie. Those football were jerks to me at the championship game. And I'm going to make sure they don't forget it. But enough about me, how'd everything go with you?" Sam asked.

"Oh, I had a great time! I got to dance with Freddie a lot and met a lot of people. You have wonderful friends." Sam smiled. "Plus, I think Freddie likes you."

Sam looked shocked, "What?! Me and Freddie?!"

"Yeah, he's really sweet you should give it a chance." Sam turned away for a second where a smile flashed across her face. But she swiftly returned to her normal self and faced her twin.

"Freddie's just a friend. Anyways, we should go, it's time to celebrate."

The two climbed down the ladder and walked to the parking lot to get in Melanie's Volvo. The two drove off to return to their normal lives.

A/N: That's the end!! If you saw that coming tell me, you deserve an award. Random info: the chapter titles were named after what was stolen in that chapter. The exceptions were the chapter titled unknown (because that was when a locker combination was taken, but I didn't want to give it away!) and any chapter where nothing was taken. Hope y'all liked it! Please tell me if I did and message me if you have any questions! A shout out goes to Smile-I'mTheEndOfAllThatYouSee for reviewing, thanks! Also tell me if you think an epilogue would be appropriate; I'm tossing the idea around but it wouldn't be up for a few days, I've been working on something else.


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